It was night, and I was in the middle of a forest when I saw him.
It was difficult to make out his features; I only saw darkness—evil. He had something in his arms. What was it? It was small but moving on its own. It was a baby! I knew it could not be his, and I feared he would harm it. As I walked closer to him, he ran.
I chased him for what seemed like hours in the humid night air. My heart pounded and my chest heaved, but I couldn’t stop until I had the baby. Not knowing what I would do once I caught up with him, I kept running. I prayed hard.
God needed to help me rescue the baby.
I don’t know why, but he stopped. Catching up to the man, I snatched the baby from him, although I can’t remember how. Then I just ran and ran with him on my heels. I ruined his plan, and he was angry. He chased me to exhaustion. Suddenly, I realized there was nowhere to go. I had come to a white fence too high to climb with the baby in my arms. With my back to the fence, I watched as the figure approach me—his arrogant eyes victorious. I didn’t know what to do.
I called out to Jesus; He was the only one who could rescue us.
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As the evil one stood before me, trying to pluck the child out of my arms, I could only whisper the name of Jesus. I realized this man hated that Name. Although it was dark, I could see his body recoil. It made me brave. I shouted Jesus’ name with everything I had.
The Name terrified him and he ran as I pursued him, yelling Jesus’ name. I watched until he was out of sight.
Then I woke up.
The next day, I got up feeling nauseous. Since my husband and I were trying to get pregnant, and I worked in a hospital lab, my coworkers gave me a pregnancy test. It was positive.
Little did I know how difficult this pregnancy would be.
At eight weeks, I passed some blood. I panicked. I was sure I had miscarried. As the doctor did an ultrasound, he discovered I had twins and explained I passed nothing more than an isolated clot.
But it continued to go downhill from there. The morning sickness was terrible. I couldn’t eat anything but ice and lost weight for the first fourteen weeks of my pregnancy. The headaches and migraines were awful, too.
I passed out one afternoon at work while on my way to the bathroom. That freaked out my coworkers. The doctor told me later my babies had pressed against my abdominal aorta and temporarily cut off blood flow to my brain. It was the last time that happened.
At twenty-seven weeks, my water broke on my way to work. The shuttle driver, who picked me up at an offsite parking lot, drove me straight to the emergency room.
He was more of a mess than I was.
The doctors and nurses seemed amused by the shuttle driver’s reaction because I looked full-term. Once I explained I was twenty-seven weeks with twins, they sobered.
Fear overwhelmed me. I called my husband to tell him the bad news: our babies were coming too soon. They transferred me to a different hospital which was better equipped to handle premature births.
As they prepped me for a caesarian section, the nurse informed me my babies would only be a pound and a half each and would stay in the hospital until their due date, which was thirteen weeks away. I prayed they would be bigger than the nurse claimed.
After their birth, Alexandria and Matthew were each a little over two pounds. A nurse told me I must have been farther along than I thought. But I knew better. Doctors and nurses rushed to hook them up to ventilators, IV lines, and heart and respiratory monitors.
One day, two weeks later, my daughter developed pneumonia in both bronchial tubes. The phone call from the hospital, informing us our baby was in critical condition, woke us at four a.m. We prayed the rest of the morning for her. When I got to the NICU later, she looked as if she were dying. Alexandria’s skin was gray from a lack of oxygen, and the doctor gave her a drug paralyzing her to prevent her from fighting the ventilator. God was faithful, though. He healed her tiny body and before long; she was as feisty as ever.
Another time, Matthew stopped breathing after the doctor removed him from the ventilator. As I watched the nurse bagging him—forcing air into his lungs, his tiny lifeless body refused to respond. She called the nearby doctor for help. I stood, wanting to scream for someone to help my baby. Instead, I prayed—begging God to save Matthew.
Suddenly, it felt as though someone’s hands were on my shoulders and I felt a peace I cannot describe. I heard the Lord’s assurance Matthew would go home with me as I sat back down in my chair. My babies came home after ten weeks at the hospital.
Matthew and Alexandria are now almost twenty-four years old. Although they had difficulties at times, they are healthy and happy college graduates.
The baby in my dream represented the babies I did not know I was pregnant with. At the time of my nightmare, we did not have a fence, nor was it in our plans to have one.
My husband had a six-foot white fence installed after I gave birth.
I realized after a year or two, it was this enclosure I had seen in my dream. The woods behind our property is where it had taken place.
 The Lord gave me that vision to prepare me, not just for the battle my babies would go through to survive but to show me He would be there as soon as I called His Name. He had already won the battle; all I needed was faith.
Matthew 21:22 ESV says, “And whatever you ask in prayer, you will receive if you have faith.”
Wow! God is amazing. He is our great protector. Jesus is the only One who can break strongholds. Jesus is our hope. What love!
Absolutely! He is amazing. Thank you, Debbie.
A Protector of His chosen! Thank you for sharing this battle story acknowledging He Who is our Victor!
I am so glad it spoke to you. Thank you Brita!♥️
This had me on the edge of my seat for the entire read! Plus tears in my eyes and taking deep breaths to gather myself. I deeply feel what that was like as a momma. I’m so glad you wrote this, Stephanie!!
Thank you so much, Jennifer. You are so kind.
You are truly welcome, my sister! By the way, do your friends call you Steph? Or do you prefer to be called by your whole name?
Stephanie is best.
Okay 🙂 <3
Wonderful story. Dreams can prepare us, thanks. So glad it was you who had the twins, and that dream. God helped you and you were faithful and trusted him. Amen!
Thank you, Carla!
Amen 🙏🏽 we serve an amazing and great and powerful God
What a beautiful testimony, Stephanie! Thank you for sharing.
You’re welcome, Jeanne. Thank you for reading it.
I could hardly read this because the tears kept flowing!. Beautiful story of your faithful walk with God! And his blessings in your life.
Thank you, Cindy. I am so glad it touched you.
Woowzer! My heart was pounding.
Great read. Great God!
Yes, that is how I felt when I woke up after that dream; then instantly knew Jesus had been withe me.
How well I remember this time in your life and Gods amazing intervention and faithfulness to you. This reminded me today to remember that God is more real and powerful than my circumstances. I need only call on Him and trust his goodness and absolute power.
Yes, I remember telling you this story. You were Jesus to me so many times in my life. God always knows what He is doing.
I’m holding back tears right now. Such a gripping story of faithfulness from both sides. Even though I’m not a parent, I felt I experienced your fear and your peace. A perfect example of the power that is wrapped up in one word. Jesus.
Thank you. I’m crying, too. Jesus is all we need.
Such a beautiful story. I’m praising God with you for His faithfulness.
Thank you, LuAnn. He is Good!
How telling. I also have the gift of dreams, so I understand the Lord was showing you that you would face a spiritual battle. But Jesus had already won it by the power of His Name! How glorious! It’s a good reminder to us that we Christians have power over the enemy through the Name of Jesus. Amen! xoxo
Yes, it was amazing when I found out I wa pregnant the very next morning, although I had no clue what we were in for. I don’t get them often, but I would not have thought it was a gift. Thank you!